The World Bank (WB) yesterday approved $300 million to help Bangladesh improve the efficiency of gas distribution and end-use through pre-paid metering systems for residential and industrial consumers and reduce methane emissions along the natural gas value chain.
 
The Gas Sector Efficiency Improvement and Carbon Abatement Project will address natural gas leakage and losses along the gas transmission and distribution network, reduce wastage in use by residential and industrial users, and strengthen network monitoring capabilities. 
 
It will install more than 1.2 million prepaid gas meters in Dhaka and Rajshahi Division. Among these, 1.1 million prepaid meters will be deployed in Greater Dhaka covering 54 percent of residential customers of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, and 128,000 prepaid meters in Rajshahi division, covering the entire residential customer base of Pashchimanchal Gas Company Limited (PGCL), said a press release.
 
The project will also pilot rolling out about 50 smart meters to larger industrial users to demonstrate the viability of smart meters to better monitor and manage gas use in the industrial sector.
 
It will install a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Geographic Information System on PGCL’s network to improve gas flow monitoring and help reduce methane leaks. They will contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with better monitoring in the gas network for identifying and repairing methane leaks.
 
“Improving energy efficiency will be important for Bangladesh to achieve its 2021 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. 
  
"The project will help cut down natural gas wastage in households and industries and reduce fugitive methane emissions in gas pipelines, which are often caused by leaks from gas production, processing, transmission, and distribution.” he added.
 
Natural gas accounted for 68 percent of the country’s primary energy consumption in 2021. Methane leakages in the oil and gas value chain – which is 25 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat in the atmosphere – amounts to an estimated 257 kilotons, which is roughly equivalent to 7.7 million tons of CO2.
  
BDST: 1920 HRS, JULY 28, 2023
MN